KKK denied permission to hold cross burning at historic Confederate memorial in Georgia

The Ku Klux Klan have been denied permission to burn a cross atop Georgia's Stone Mountain park where the second KKK was founded in 1915.

The permit requested that around 20 people visit the top of the mountain "light our cross and 20 minutes later we will be gone."

The application was submitted by Joey Hobbs who is part of the Sacred Knights' Ku Klux Klan.

The event was meant to take place on the 21 October but the state park authorities denied the application saying that it "condemns the beliefs and actions of the Ku Klux Klan and believes the denial of this Public Assembly request is in the best interest of all parties."

John Bankhead, a spokesman for the park said: "We don't want any of these groups at the park, quite frankly."

The mountainside features a giant carving of the Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E Lee.

The park had additional concerns over public safety after a similar cross burning event in April 2016 attracted hundreds of opposition protesters.

Georgia officials said that following the 2016 rally, more safety resources would be required than they were physically be able to provide.

It comes amid growing tensions in the US over Confederate monuments and clashes with alt-right groups, the KKK, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists.

Last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, a woman was killed and 19 others were injured when a rally comprised of alt-right groups marched through the town sparking a major national debate.